A lightweight contest between Marc
Stevens (Pictured) and John
Cholish is currently being put together for Strikeforce/M-1
Global “Fedor vs. Silva.”

Sherdog.com confirmed the bout with sources close to the event
after the news was initially reported by MMAJunkie.com on Friday.
According to sources, bout agreements have not yet been signed. The
event, which takes place Feb. 12 at the Izod Center in East
Rutherford, N.J., will kick off Strikeforce’s 2011 heavyweight
grand prix and will be headlined by a matchup between Fedor
Emelianenko and Antonio
Silva. Four additional heavyweight scraps are scheduled for the
show, including the second tournament quarter-final between
Andrei
Arlovski and Sergei
Kharitonov.

A cast member on Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Stevens was
the first overall pick by coach Josh
Koscheck. Despite his potential, however, Stevens was submitted
by Cody
McKenzie and eliminated from the competition. The wrestler was
not done, though, as he was the recipient of a wild card bid, along
with Aaron
Wilkinson. Just as in his fight with McKenzie, Stevens was
submitted by Wilkinson with a guillotine choke. Prior to joining
the show, Stevens was riding a four-fight win streak in sanctioned
competition.

A student of Renzo Gracie,
Cholish has not lost since his professional debut in 2007. A winner
of five-straight fights, the New York resident has finished four of
his career victims by either knockout or submission.

Back in 2015, former Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold picked up his third “Performance of the Night” bonus in four fights when he took on Lyoto Machida. Check out the full fight.Filed under: News, read news >>